General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'The photo ops were ready, but the plan was not.'......
I do think this sums up the #TrumpIranWar quite well......................
@cwebbonline.com
The photo ops were ready, but the plan was not.
And theyre panicking behind closed doors.
The photo ops were ready, but the plan was not.
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) 2026-03-20T01:37:19.173Z
And theyâre panicking behind closed doors.
Week 4:
— (@carelesswhisperer.bsky.social) 2026-03-20T01:48:00.374Z
âItâs Obamaâs faultâ.
Coventina
(29,650 posts)progree
(12,932 posts)
Aussie105
(7,877 posts)Stage 1: Believe in your moral and military superiority, and attack.
(Make up some semi-plausible reasons for doing so, WMDs, nuclear bombs 'any minute now', the usual in other words.)
Stage 2: Enemy is surprisingly resilient and crafty.
Timeline for winning the war stretches out. 'Any day now' becomes 'any week now'.
Keep lying to your country.
Stage 3: Not going too well!
Escalate from-a-distance death and destruction.
Keep lying to your country.
Stage 4: Escalate further. Boots on the ground now mandatory.
Economic chaos and disruption within the region if not in the whole world.
Keep lying to your country. Especially about the 'progress' and body count.
Stage 5: One side gets bored and pulls back, gives up.
Usually the side that attacked and invaded.
Make up reasons for the withdrawal.
Keep lying to your country.
Stage 6: Recovery.
History books have new pages added.
Depending on who writes the history, lying to your country will be involved.
The whole process can take many years.
I will leave you guessing which war I'm talking about - Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq or Iran.